Agencies
The Centre on Friday filed a fresh plea in the Supreme Court (SC) seeking the quashing of an FIR that named an Army officer in a case of firing in Shopian in Jammu and Kashmir.
The apex court had on Monday stayed the investigation by the J&K Police into an FIR on the Shopian firing involving Major Aditya Kumar, after the counsel appearing for the state clarified that the FIR did not name the Major an accused. However, the Major’s name does feature in the FIR – although not in the accused column – where he’s referred to as the officer leading a convoy that fired at a stone-pelting mob in Shopian. That’s the reason for today’s fresh plea by the Centre in the Supreme Court.
“He (Major Aditya) has not been named as accused in the FIR. The column of the accused in the FIR is left blank. His name also does not feature in the case diary as of now. He is just been named on the basis of allegation that he led the convoy which had opened fired on retaliation. There is no specific allegation against him,” the advocate appearing for Jammu and Kashmir had said in a hearing on the earlier plea on Monday.
Already, the SC had on February 12 stopped the state police from taking any coercive step against the Major on a petition filed by his father, Lt Col Karamveer Singh.
The three civilians were killed when Army personnel fired at a stone-pelting mob in Ganovpora village of Shopian on January 27, prompting Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to order an inquiry into the incident.
Both the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir government are at loggerheads over lodging of the FIR in the case, as the state government said that Major Aditya’s name does not feature among the list of accused in the case.
Major Aditya’s father Lieutenant Colonel Karamveer Singh said in his interlocutory application that the FIR lodged on January 27 at Shopian police station under sections 336, 307 and 302 of the Ranbir Penal Code is in nullity as no previous sanction was applied for or obtained by the police prior to its registration.
The apex court had on March 5, observed that Major Aditya “is an army officer and not an ordinary criminal” and directed the state government that no further investigation shall take place in the case till April 24, when the final hearing in the matter would take place.
Section 7 of Jammu and Kashmir AFSPA says “No prosecution, suit or other legal proceeding shall be instituted, except with the previous sanction of the Central Government, against any person in respect of anything done or purported to be done in exercise of the powers conferred by this Act”.